Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


ONCE IN A WAY by ANTIPHILUS OF BYZANTIUM

First Line: ON A SHIP'S POOP I'D LIKE TO LIE, IF I COULD HAVE MY WAY
Last Line: WHO ALWAYS FIND MYSELF AT HOME IN SIMPLE COMPANY.

ON a ship's poop I'd like to lie, if I could have my way,
With over it the weather-cloths, thumped loudly by the spray;
A sputtering fire between two stones, edging it like a mound,
A pot perched on them, boiling brisk, with bubbling empty sound;
An unwashed cabin-boy to serve; for table I would make
Use of some handy plank; maybe a game of give and take
With sailors gossiping around . . . Lately this chanced to me,
Who always find myself at home in simple company.



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